Misery Business
by sweetkiwi604
Summary: She had a past no one knew about and enough secrets to drown herself in but this wasn't something she could handle on her own. One shot. Complete.


**First Hawaii Five-0 fic, let me know what you think!**

Misery Business

She had a past no one knew about and enough secrets to drown herself in but this wasn't something she could handle on her own. Not this time. Not again. Jamie thought about heading to Steve's when she saw Danny wasn't home yet but if he wasn't there either she didn't have the energy to search for him on the island. She could have called him, he would have dropped everything to come to her, but she wasn't going to be that selfish. If he was on the job it was probably helping someone that needed it more than she did at the moment so she curled up on the bench outside his apartment and waited.

When Danny had moved to Hawaii to be closer to Grace, Jamie was right there with him. He had fought her at first saying that her whole life was back in New Jersey but she knew he needed family, something he wouldn't have thousands of miles away on some island with his ex wife. She left it all behind and got her own crappy apartment on the other side of town so she could be close but still not right on top of him. She spent her Wednesday nights taking Grace down to the beach for walks or out for ice cream and her weekends wrapped up in her bed with her favorite books.

Jamie had met Tony just a few short months after settling in and they had been together ever since. Danny approved, which was a huge shock to Jamie, and he worked for the police department so she thought she could trust him. She unfortunately was wrong. The fights started out as simple shouting matches that ended with one of them walking away. If it had stayed like that she might have been able to deal with it until the first time he had backhanded her. Tony came home with flowers the next night and promised he would never do it again. He did three weeks later. That time he apologized with a new necklace and more empty promises.

The tears had long since stopped when she heard Danny's car pull up. She could hear his feet shuffling along the pathway to the apartment, tired from the day, and she had yet to gather the courage to make her presence known. He saw her though, saw her dressed in her casual clothes so he knew she didn't come straight from work and how her hair hung like a curtain covering her face.

"Jamie, it's late. You don't have a ninja for a partner. And I'm pretty sure tomorrow is only going to be worse. I need my five hours of sleep." When she didn't reply with some witty comeback Danny got a little more serious, clearing any exhaustion from his voice. If it wasn't for her unsteady breathing he would have thought she was sleeping. "Jamie? What's going on? Tony working late tonight?"

"No," she answered softly but he heard the pain in that one syllable. It was enough to break his heart and put his defenses up all at the same time. Before he had the chance to say anything she stood up and faced him, her hair no longer hiding the beautiful array of bruises her cheek held. "I can't do this anymore."

**X-X-X**

"Hey Hollywood," Steve teased her the next morning as she walked into Five-0 headquarters with Danny wearing oversized sunglasses. She forced a smile as he kissed her cheek before sitting in the chair Danny offered her. Steve could feel the tension rolling off his partner and his eyes flickered from Jamie to Danny. "Everything alright?"

Danny nodded to Jamie and with a deep breath she slowly removed her sunglasses. Steve's eyes about glossed over with protectiveness as he rested his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" He turned his attention to Danny. "What happened?"

"Tony," Danny clipped out as if the name itself left a foul taste in his mouth. If it hadn't been for his sister crying herself to sleep and begging for him to stay with her he would have found Tony last night. The need was only building every time he got a glimpse of her face and knew it wouldn't be very long before even Steve wouldn't be able to hold him back.

Steve hooked a finger under Jamie's chin to lift her head, checking out her injuries himself. "He did this to you?"

Jamie slightly nodded as Danny paced the floor in front of her, speaking to Steve as if she wasn't there. "She's never been hurt before…the only time I ever saw her with bruises like this was when she got into a car accident last year. Her whole face was a mess…" he trailed off as his demeanor instantly changed, realization washing over him. "It wasn't a car accident, was it?" He tried to catch his sister's line of sight but she refused to look at him. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?! I could have helped you! I would have-"

"Killed him," she finished as a tear slipped down her cheek. "Danny, you would have lost your badge. It wasn't worth it. You need your job as much as you need Grace. It's a part of who you are."

Danny knelt in front of her and put his hand on the back on her neck so she had no choice but to look at him. "You don't worry about me, you hear? Someone is hurting you, you come to me. I'd never let anything happen to you."

Jamie bit her bottom lip in an attempt to keep the rest of her tears at bay. Crying in front of her big brother was something she hadn't done in years until last night. "He's a cop."

"I don't care. No one lays a hand on you. Ever." He used his thumb to swipe away the tear that had escaped and searched her eyes for every answer she wasn't giving him. "Why didn't you come to me sooner?"

Jamie only felt like crying all over again but this time out of relief. She wasn't sure what her brother was going to do, or Steve for that matter, but it was the first time she had felt safe in months. She couldn't hold it in any longer, she couldn't keep the walls up and be brave, but instead fell into Danny's open arms and sobbed. "He said he was sorry."

They were still sitting like that when Kono and Chin walked in, concern immediately washing over their faces. Steve stepped off to the side to fill them in and told Kono to find out where Tony would be for the day. She gave one more sympathetic look in Jamie's direction before pulling out her phone to make a few calls. Steve instructed Chin to stay with Jamie while he and Danny went to deal with it but he wasn't quiet enough and she overheard.

"You can't go after him."

Danny pulled back from her as she stood up. "Uh, yeah we can. He attacked you, Jamie. He's not just going to get away with it."

"Look, I know it's not a healthy relationship, okay? I know that I can't go back to him and I won't. I'll keep my distance, I'll change my locks, I'll even stay in your shit hole you call an apartment for awhile if it'll make you happy but he's a decorated officer with a lot of connections. We're not in high school any more, Danny. You and Matt can't just go beat the shit out of someone who hurt my feelings. You have to do things by the book."

"Who me? Would I do anything like that? It's like you don't know me at all. I'm totally by the book."

"Then how come I don't believe a word you just said?"

"Because you're not a trained professional," he answered as he walked off to see what Kono had found out.

Jamie used the heel of her palm to wipe away the rest of her tears before catching Steve's wrist as he went to follow Danny. He stopped easily enough and gave her his full attention as he waited to hear what she had to say.

"You have to stop him."

Steve shook his head, knowing full well what he would have done if it was Mary that came to him like this. In his mind it might have well as been. Jamie was family and no one got away with hurting his family. "I can't do that."

"You can. He'll listen to you, Steve. You just have to make him see reason. If he loses this job because of me I'll never forgive myself." She took a shuddering breath before staring him straight in the eyes. "I'll never forgive _you_."

Steve put his hand on her shoulder, "All you ever do is worry about him. Let him worry about you too."

"But-"

"What if it was Grace?" Steve cut her off and she snapped her mouth closed at his question. "What if in ten years from now Gracie comes to your front door in the middle of the night covered in bruises from her boyfriend? What would you do?" Jamie's mind flashed with every weapon she owned and how she would use it on the boy who ever decided it was okay to lay a hand on her niece. It was then she fully understood Danny's need to settle things with Tony. Steve pulled her in to a one armed hug and whispered in her ear, "We've got this."

Danny came back with an address for where Tony was working for the day and nodded to Steve that he was ready to go. Jamie stood with Chin as she watched them leave to take care of her nightmare and finally smiled. Family wasn't always blood but damn if it didn't feel good to know she had a team that would be behind her every step of the way.


End file.
